Reverse Dieting - A Path to Restoring Metabolism, Energy Levels and Health

We explored chronic dieting in depth in my last blog post: how it manifests as a vicious cycle with numerous physiological and psychological consequences, including a suppressed metabolism and negative relationships with food and dieting.

Today, we’re delving into the world of reverse dieting - we’ll look at the guiding principles and benefits, before offering practical steps to help you break free of the endless cycle of weight loss and gain, and find a truly sustainable, healthy approach to nutrition. 

The Benefits of Reverse Dieting

Reverse dieting offers solutions to many of the pitfalls of chronic dieting: suppressed metabolism, low energy, unhealthy relationships with food, and hormonal imbalances. Let’s explore how:

Metabolic Restoration:
Prolonged calorie restriction prompts the body to try and conserve energy, by down-regulating metabolism in numerous ways. By gradually increasing calories in a controlled manner, we can reverse these temporary adaptations and build your metabolism back up towards baseline (and often, build your metabolism to a higher point than it’s every been before!). 

Hormonal Balance:
When your body has inadequate energy, it shuts down ‘non-essential’ functions. One of the most common instances of this is menstrual irregularities in women, who have a lower threshold than men for disruption to reproductive hormones. When our bodies sense we don’t have enough energy for our own survival, it’s going to shut down reproductive function, to conserve energy and prevent the chances of pregnancy - since growing and raising a human would require further energy which isn’t available! Reverse dieting involves a steady increase in calories, which supports restoration of hormonal balance, and signals to the body that it has adequate energy to maintain all body functions.
It’s important to remember that you don’t need to be underweight to experience hormonal disruption, and it can still occur after a period of weight gain

Cognitive boost:
Once you start eating more and providing your body with the nutrients it needs - protein, carbohydrates, fats, with plenty of vitamins and minerals included - you’ll often find yourself with more mental energy and improved cognitive function. Your brain cells require energy (calories) just to function - it’s thought that the brain accounts for 20% of our metabolic function. Therefore, providing your brain with enough energy can optimise its function, plus adequate intake of micronutrients supports the production and function of neurotransmitters involved in mood and motivation, for example.

Enhanced Performance:
Restoring metabolism and increasing energy availability through reverse dieting can contribute to improved athletic performance and strength gains. You’ll be giving your body the nutrition it needs to not just feel energised during training, but recover outside of the gym too. 

Improved relationship with food:
One of the psychological pitfalls of chronic dieting is feeling constantly deprived - mentally as well as physically. Consuming too little food, combined with certain foods being off limits, means that when you do eat those ‘forbidden’ foods, you feel out of control and end up bingeing. Reverse dieting can help you break free from the binge-restrict cycle as your body learns to trust that it will be consistently nourished.

Principles of Reverse Dieting

Rather than abruptly returning to a maintenance or surplus calorie level, as typically happens when a diet ‘ends’, reverse dieting involves a systematic, intentional approach to increasing calorie intake whilst closely monitoring the body’s response. This steady process allows the body to adapt gradually, mitigating the risk of rapid post-diet fat gain while restoring metabolism, increasing energy levels and fostering a healthier relationship with food.

Step 1: Find your baseline
Whilst you could use a calorie calculator, these are always estimates. A more accurate way to determine your current calorie needs is to track what you’re currently eating. Provided your weight is staying approximately the same during a 1-2 week period of tracking, this is your current maintenance calories

Step 2: Slow, steady increases
Once your baseline calorie intake is established, begin increasing your daily calories by small increments, typically ranging from 50 to 100 calories per week. E.g. if during week 1 you’re consuming 1500 calories per day, in week 2, you might increase this to 1550-1600 calories per day. This gradual approach allows the body to adapt to the increased energy intake without triggering excessive weight gain.

Step 3: Monitor Progress
Keep track of your progress by monitoring changes in weight, energy levels, hunger cues, and overall well-being. During a reverse diet, you might expect a small amount of weight gain - particularly if you were eating very few carbs previously - but this should plateau. Tracking non-scale measures such as photos and body measurements will also help you estimate body composition changes - for example, you may gain weight from muscle and actually look leaner, despite an increase on the scale.

Step 4: Continue pushing calories up
Continue increasing calories every 1-2 weeks, until you reach a point where further increases are resulting in significant, consistent weight gain, for 3-4 weeks in a row. For example, if you reach a point where you’ve been eating 2000 calories and maintaining weight, but when you push it to 2100, you gain weight for 3-4 weeks in a row, you may have found your current upper limit. 

Step 5: Enjoy maintenance!
Following on from a reverse diet, a maintenance period is an ideal time to work on improving the quality of your diet, and potentially other lifestyle factors, whilst enjoying life at a new, higher calorie intake. Focusing on healthy habits, macronutrient ratios, and even nutrient timing, can mean that a ‘maintenance phase’ doesn’t mean you’re pressing pause on your progress!

Maximise your results

Getting the best results is about more than just calories alone. Here’s a few key ingredients to include in a successful reverse diet:

Focus on Whole Foods
Emphasizing nutrient-dense whole foods is crucial during reverse dieting. This ensures that the body receives essential vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients, supporting overall health and recovery.

Adequate protein
Protein is essential for building and maintaining muscle, which supports a healthy metabolism and increases the likelihood that any weight gain during your reverse diet comes from muscle, rather than fat. Protein is also the most filling of the macronutrients, as well as having the highest thermic effect - meaning your body burns calories just digesting it. 

Strength Training
Combining adequate protein with resistance training is key for maximising muscle maintenance and growth during your reverse diet. Strength training helps shift the body composition towards a healthier ratio of muscle to fat, giving you a leaner appearance and higher resting metabolism - not to mention all the other health benefits of strength training!

Mindful Eating
Cultivating a mindful approach to eating is integral to reverse dieting success. The process of tracking your food and reverse dieting is an ideal opportunity to learn more about the nutrients in your food and what foods help you feel your best. Paying attention to hunger cues, appetite, cravings and energy levels, as well as deliberately including ‘treat’ foods, will help you move towards a more sustainable relationship with food.

Be Patient and Consistent
Reverse dieting is a gradual process that requires patience and consistency. Results may not be immediate, and you may gain some weight in the process, but with time and persistence, metabolic health can be restored, and a healthier body and mind can be achieved.

Let me be your guide!

If reverse dieting sounds like exactly what you need…but you’re not confident going through it alone, my Performance Macro Coaching program will take you through it, step by step.

With individualised macronutrient targets, check-ins and adjustments based on your goals and progress, plus community support and video Q+A sessions, you’ll have everything you need for a successful reverse diet.

Performance Macro Coaching re-opens in April - with limited spots available, make sure you secure yours by signing up to the waitlist here. You’ll guarantee your spot, PLUS get access to some exclusive early-bird offers. 

In next week’s blog, I’ll be delving into mastering macronutrients - offering some key insights on how to prioritise, optimise, and achieve balance in your diet - helping you unlock the powers of effective nutrition. Make sure you’re signed up to my newsletter to get it delivered directly to your inbox!

*Disclaimer*

It's important to note that reverse dieting may not be suitable for everyone, particularly those with underlying medical conditions or a history of disordered eating. In such cases, it's crucial to seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional or registered dietitian before embarking on any dietary changes.